Rapid renovation: from bank to butcher shop 't Landleven

Although Marcel Hamers owns multiple butcher shops, he considers himself more of an entrepreneur than a butcher. This past spring, he opened his third store. The extensive renovation preceding this opening had to be completed quickly. Fortunately, he could rely on a dependable one-stop-shop partner.

Marcel Hamers likes a tight schedule. For himself, his customers, and his partners. “If they can't keep up, it's ‘see you later! – I'll find someone else,'” he says from the office of his new butcher shop 't Landleven in Eersel, North Brabant. A year ago, this building housed a bank. A few months ago, it became available. For Marcel, who already owned two butcher shops and a production facility in nearby villages, this was the perfect spot to expand his dream. “I'm always looking for a new challenge. Actually, I'm more of an entrepreneur than a butcher.”

Built to last

The building needed a complete overhaul: floors, pipes, drainage, layout, walls, ceilings, furnishings – everything had to change. And all within eight weeks. There's no time to find ten different contractors for each individual project. So, Marcel chose Sentho. The company supplies and installs, among other things, hygienic walls for production areas, ceilings, and refrigeration and freezer units for large and small food businesses. John Mondi of Sentho explains: “More food businesses today want a one-stop-shop. With our broad range of products and services, we meet that demand.”

Marcel Hamers (left) and John Mondi

When you enter the workspace behind the shop at the new 't Landleven location, almost everything you see – except the equipment – is from Sentho: walls, brine, refrigeration, and freezer units, ceilings, cooling swing doors, freezer swing doors, the cooling sliding door, and drainage. Marcel is very pleased with the result and the panels: “It works fantastically. The panels are durable and easy to clean, even with a high-pressure washer.” 

John adds: “Our sandwich panels are made of fiberglass-reinforced polyester. Although it's only 2.3 millimeters thick, it's durable and resistant to water and harsh cleaning agents. It’s also scratch and impact-resistant, unlike steel wall panels. For the adhesive, we use a two-component epoxy, which is impermeable and thus eliminates any chance of mold formation.” For Marcel, there's another big advantage of these fiberglass-reinforced panels: “Construction goes super-fast. The structure was up in no time.”

Ready-to-eat

Inside the shop, there's no trace of the bank from a year ago. The 400 square meter space has a first-class appearance and boasts 52 linear meters of counters. Customers can find not only bavette, chicken skewers, and barbecue packages, but also a wide variety of meals: lasagna, wraps, salads, sandwiches, pasta, stews, and various kinds of pizzas. “The trend of ready-to-eat meals has been ongoing for a few years. With an eye to the future, I want to participate in that. Originally, we are a butcher shop, but we want to offer a wide range. So, we also have vegetarian salads and fish meals in the counter,” says Marcel. He mentions that the meals are popular with his entire customer base, from young to old and from locals to passersby. “Older singles like to pick up a classic meat-and-potatoes meal, young hard-working parents prefer pastas, and vacationers often buy salads. You can’t blame them; it's hard to compete with our meals. In a supermarket, a single person won't buy a whole cauliflower for themselves. Plus, our meals are much fresher than those from retailers,” says the entrepreneur. He sees maintaining a high turnover rate to keep the meals fresh as the biggest challenge for his business. Marcel aims to achieve this through a strong focus on presentation. Successfully so: each meal looks more appealing than the next. “Yes, it’s indeed restaurant-worthy. That's why I have two chefs behind the shop preparing the meals.”

Hands full

Marcel started his entrepreneurial journey over thirty years ago when he took over his boss's butcher shop in Goirle. “One thing led to another: another shop in Bladel, later one in Hilvarenbeek, and a production facility in Bladel. The shop in Goirle has since been sold.” The shop and production facility in Bladel were previously renovated by Sentho. Marcel was very pleased with that: “Their people do good work and don’t go home until the job is done. Just keep your promises; that suits me. I also don’t ask customers if their family barbecue can maybe be two days later.”

www.hetlandleven.com
ww.sentho.nl

Photos: ©Bert Jansen